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ECHOES 



THE ORATORY 



SELECTIONS FROM THE POEMS 



Rev. John Henry Newman, 




NEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 

goo BROADWAY, COR. 20th STREET. 



\ 



T^ 






COPYRIGHT, 18S4, BY 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & CO. 



Edward O. Jenkins, 

Printer and Stereotyper, 

20 North William Street, Nezu York. 



NOTE. 



If any apology were needed for 
the presentation to the Protestant 
public of poems whose author be- 
longs to another communion, it 
might be found in the precedent 
that a few at least of our most 
familiar hymns have had their 
origin in the Oratory. But it is 
believed that no such precedent 
need be pleaded. However wide 
may be denominational differences, 
however bitter at times may be the 
warfare waged by theologians, no 
one will question the value of that 
poetry in whose broad catholicity 
dogma and lesser doctrine is for- 
gotten, as the author hymns the 

(3) 



4 NOTE. 

praises of the Incarnate God. Who 
will refuse to read the " New Jeru- 
salem " because Bernard of Cluny 
may have differed from the reader 
in his theological tenets ? Is the 
'' Dies Irse " to remain unread by 
Protestants because Thomas of Ce" 
lano was a Roman Catholic ? 

Of the author of these poems 
nothing need be said. An explana- 
tion of the principle upon which 
this selection of his poems has been 
made may not, however, be out of 
place. The compiler has endeavored 
to select, first, those poems which 
are free from all reference to the 
teachings peculiar to the Church of 
Rome ; and, second, those which, 
in his judgment, possess the great- 
est literary merit. The broad cath- 
olicity of the author has rendered 
the first part of the compiler's task 
an easy one, while in selecting the 
poems, from a literary point of 



NOTE. ^ 

view, he has been embarrassed by 
an abundance rather than by any 
scarcity of material. The only 
poem which has been abridged to 
any extent is the "Dream of Geron- 
tius," whose length, as well as the 
pronounced Romish character of 
certain portions, rendered abridg- 
ment necessary. It is hoped no in- 
justice has been done the author 
through any error of judgment on 
the part of the compiler in mak- 
ing this selection — certainly none 
has been intended. 



/ have 110 sway amid the crowd, no art 
In speech, no place in council or in mart. 
Nor human law, nor judges throned on 

high, 
Smile on my face, and to my words 

reply. 
Let others seek earth* s honors ; be it 

mine 
One law to cherish, a?id to track one 

line. 
Straight on towards heaven to press 

with single bent, 
To know and love my God^ and then to 

die content. 



(6) 



A THANKSGIVING. 

"Thou in faithfulness hast afHicted me." 

Lord, in this dust Thy sovereign 
voice 
First quicken'd love divine ; 
I am all Thine — Thy care and 
choice, 
My very praise is Thine. 

I praise Thee, while Thy providence 
In childhood frail I trace, 

For blessings given, ere dawning 
sense 
Could seek or scan Thy grace ; 

Blessings in boyhood's marvelling 
hour, 
Bright dfeams, and fancyings 
strange ; 

(7) 



8 A THA A- KS GIVING. 

Blessings, when reason's awful 
power 
Gave thought a bolder range ; 

Blessings of friends, which to my 
door 

Unask'd, unhoped, have come ; 
And, choicer still, a countless store 

Of eager smiles at home. 

Yet, Lord, in memory's fondest 
place 

I shrine those seasons sad, 
When, looking up, I saw Thy face 

In kind austereness clad. 

I would not miss one sigh or tear, 
Heart-pang, or throbbing brow ; 

Sweet was the chastisement severe, 
And sweet its memory now. 

Yes ! let the fragrant scars abide, 
Love-tokens in Thy stead, 



A THANKSGIVING. q 

Faint shadows of the spear-pierced 
side 
And thorn-encompass'd head. 

And such Thy tender force be still, 
When self would swerve or stray, 

Shaping to truth the froward will 
Along Thy narrow way. 

Deny me wealth ; far, far remove 
The lure of power or name ; 

Hope thrives in straits, in weakness 
love. 
And faith in this world's shame. 



JEREMIAH. 

" O that I had in the wilderness a lodging- 
place of wayfaring men ; that I might leave my 
people, and go from them ! " 

" Woe's me ! " the peaceful prophet 
cried, 
" Spare me this troubled life ; 
To stem man's wrath, to school his 
pride. 
To head the sacred strife ! 

" O place me in some silent vale, 
Where groves and flowers 
abound ; 
Nor eyes that grudge, nor tongues 
that rail. 
Vex the truth-haunted ground ! " 

If his meek spirit err'd, opprest 

That God denied repose, 
What sin is ours, to whom Heav- 
en's rest 
Is pledged, to heal earth's woes ? 
(lo) 



THE GREEK FATHERS. 

Let heathen, sing thy heathen 

praise, 
Fall'n Greece ! the thought of ho- 
lier days 
In my sad heart abides ; 
For sons of thine in Truth's first 

hour 
Were tongues and weapons of His 

power, 
Born of the Spirit's fiery shower, 
Our fathers and our guides. 

All thine is Clement's varied page • 
And Dionysius, ruler sage. 

In days of doubt and pain ; 
And Origen with eagle eye ; 
And saintly Basil's purpose high 
To smite imperial heresy. 

And cleanse the Altar's stain. 
(II) 



1 2 THE GREEK FA THERS. 

From thee the glorious preacher 

came, 
With soul of zeal and lips of flame, 

A court's stern martyr-guest ; 
And thine, O inexhaustive race ! 
Was Nazianzen's heaven - taught 

grace ; 
And royal-heated Athanase, 
With Paul's own mantle blest. 



DAVID AND JONATHAN. 

«' Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the 
love of women." 

O HEART of fire ! misjudged by 

wilful man, 
Thou flower of Jesse's race ! 
What woe was thine, when thou 

and Jonathan 
Last greeted face to face! 
He doom'd to die, thou on us to 

impress 
The portent of a blood-stain'd 

holiness. 

Yet it was well : — for so, mid cares 
of rule 
And crime's encircling tide, 
A spell was o'er thee, zealous one, 
to cool 
Earth-joy and kingly pride ; 
(13) 



X4 DAVID AND JONATHAN. 

With battle - scene and pageant, 
prompt to blend 

The pale calm spectre of a blame- 
less friend. 

Ah ! had he lived, before Thy 

throne to stand, 
Thy spirit keen and high 
Sure it had snapp'd in twain love's 

slender band, 
So dear in memory ; 
Paul, of his comrade reft, the Avarn- 

ing gives,— 
He lives to us who dies, he is but 

lost who lives. 



MESSINA. 

" Homo stim ; humani nil a me alienum puto." 

Why, wedded to the Lord, still 
yearns my heart 
Towards these scenes of ancient 

heathen fame ? 
Yet legend hoar, and voice of 
bard that came 
Fixing my restless youth with its 

sweet art, 
And shades of power, and those 
who bore a part 
In the mad deeds that set the 

world in flame. 
So fret my memory here — ah ! is 
it blame ? — 
That from my e3^es the tear is fain 

to start. 
Nay, from no fount impure these 
drops arise ; 

(15) 



l5 MESSINA. 

'Tis but that sympathy with Adam's 

race 
Which in each brother's history 

reads its own. 
So let the cliffs and seas of this fair 

place 
Be named man's tomb and splendid 

record-stone, 
High hope, pride-stain'd, the course 

without the prize. 



OUR FUTURE. 

" What I do, thou knowest not now ; but thou 
shalt know hereafter." 

Did we but see, 
When life first open'd, how our 

journey lay 
Between its earliest and its closing 

day, 
Or view ourselves, as we one time 

shall be, 
Who strive for the high prize, such 

sight would break 
The youthful spirit, though bold 

for Jesu's sake. 

But Thou, dear Lord ! 

Whilst I traced out bright scenes 
which were to come, 

Isaac's pure blessings, and a ver- 
dant home, 

(17) 



1 8 OUR FUTURE. 

Didst spare me, and withhold 

Thy fearful word ; 
Wiling me year by year, till I am 

found 
A pilgrim pale, with Paul's sad 

girdle bound. 



DAY-LABORERS. 

" And He said, It is finished." 

One only, of God's messengers to 

man, 
Finish'd the work of grace, which 
He began ; 
E'en Moses wearied upon Nebo's 

height, 
Though loth to leave the fight 
With the doom'd foe, and yield the 
sun-bright land 
To Joshua's armed band. 

And David wrought in turn a stren- 
uous part, 
Zeal for God's house consuming 
him in heart ; 
And yet he might not build, but 

only bring 
Gifts for the Heavenly King ; 
And these another rear'd, his peace- 
ful sort, 
Till the full work was done. 
(19) 



LIBERALISM. 

" Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel, Ilowbeit 
from the sins of Jeroboam Jehu departed not 
from after them, to wit, the golden calves that 
were in Bethel, and that were in Dan." 

Ye can not halve the Gospel of 
God's grace ; 
Men of presumptuous heart ! I 

know you well. 
Ye are of those who plan that we 
should dwell, 

Each in his tranquil home and holy 
place ; 

Seeing the Word refines all natures 
rude, 

And tames the stirrings of the mul- 
titude. 

And ye have caught some echoes 
of its lore, 
As heralded amid the joyous 
choirs ; 

(26) 



LIBERALISM. 2 1 

Ye mark'd it spoke of peace, 

chastised desires, 
Good-will and mercy — and ye heard 

no more ; 
But, as for zeal and quick-eyed 

sanctity, 
And the dread depths of grace, ye 

pass'd them by. 

And so ye halve the Truth ; for ye 

in heart, 
At best, are doubters whether it 

be true. 
The theme discarding, as unmeet 

for you, 
Statesmen or Sages. O new-com- 

pass'd art 
Of the ancient Foe ! — but what, if 

it extends 
O'er our own camp, and rules amid 

our friends ? 



ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. 

Peace-loving man, of humble 

heart and true ! 

What dost thou here ? 
Fierce is the city's crowd ; the 

lordly few 

Are dull of ear ! 
Sore pain it was to thee — till thou 

didst quit 
Thy patriarch-throne at length, as 

though for power unfit. 

So works the All-wise ! our ser- 
vices dividing 
Not as we ask : 

For the world's profit, by our gifts 
deciding 

Our duty-task. 

See in king's courts loth Jeremias 
plead ; 

And slow-tongued Moses rule by 
eloquence of deed ! 

(22) 



ST. GREGORY NAZJANZEN. 23 

Yes ! thou, bright Angel of the 
East ! didst rear 
The Cross divine, 

Borne high upon thy liquid accents, 
where 

Men mock'd the Sign ; 

Till that cold city heard thy bat- 
tle-cry, 

And hearts were stirr'd, and deem'd 
a Pentecost was nigh. 

Thou couldst a people raise, but 

couldst not rule : — 
So, gentle one. 
Heaven set thee free — for, ere thy 

years were full, 

Thy v/ork was done ; 
According thee the lot thou lovedst 

best, 
To muse upon the past — to serve, 

yet be at rest. 



n 



THE PILLAR OF THE 
CLOUD. 

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the en- 
circling gloom, 

Lead Thou me on ! 

The night is dark, and I am far 
from home — 

Lead Thou me on ! 

Keep Thou my feet ; I do not ask 
to see 

The distant scene — one step enouj-^' 
for me. 

I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that 
Thou 

Shouldst lead me on. 
I loved to choose and see my path, 
but now 

Lead Thou me on ! 
T loved the garish day, and, spite 

of fears, 
Pride ruled my will : remember 
not past years. 
(24) 



THE PILLAR OF THE CLOUD. 25 

So long Thy power hath blest me, 

sure it still 

Will lead me on, 
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and 

torrent, till 

The night is gone ; 
And with the morn those angel 

faces smile 
Which I have loved long since, and 

lost awhile. 



FAITH AGAINST SIGHT. 

*' As it was in the days of Lot, so shall it be 
also in the day of the Son of Man." 

The world has cycles in its course, 
when all 
That once has been, is acted o'er 
again : — 
Not by some fated law, which need 
appal 
Our faith, or binds our deeds as 
with a chain ; 
But by men's separate sins, which 
blended still 
The same bad round fulfil. 

Then fear ye not, though Gallio's 

scorn ye see, 
And soft-clad nobles count you 

mad, true hearts ! 
These are the fig-tree's signs; — 

rough deeds must be, 

(26) 



FAITH A GAINST SIGHT. 2 7 

Trials and crimes : so learn ye 
well your parts. 
Once more to plough the earth it 
is decreed, 
And scatter wide the seed. 



VEXATIONS. 

Each trial has its weight ; which, 

whoso bears 
Knows his own woe, and need of 

succoring grace ; 
The martyr's hope half wipes 

away the trace 
Of flowing blood ; the while life's ■ 

humblest cares 
Smart more, because they hold 

in Holy Writ no place. 

This be my comfort, in these days 

of grief, 
Which is not Christ's, nor forms 

heroic tale. 
Apart from Him, if not a sparrow 

fail. 
May not He pitying view, and send 

relief 
When foes or friends perplex, and 

peevish thoughts prevail ? 

(28) 



VEXATIONS. 29 

Then keep good heart, nor take the 
niggard course 
Of Thomas, who must see ere he 

would trust. 
Faith will fill up God's word, not 
poorly just 
To the bare letter, heedless of its 
force. 
But walking by its light amid 
earth's sun and dust. 



THE POWER OF PRAYER. 

There is not on the earth a soul so 
base 
But may obtain a place 
In covenanted grace ; 
So that his feeble prayer of faith 

obtains 
Some loosening of his chains, 
And earnests of the great release, 

which rise 
From gift to gift, and reach at 
length the eternal prize. 

All may save self ; — but minds that 
heavenward tower 
Aim at a wider power. 
Gifts on the world to shower. 
And this is not at once ; — by fast- 
ings gain'd. 
And trials well sustain'd, 
By pureness, righteous deeds, and 

toils of love. 
Abidance in the Truth, and zeal for 
God above. 
(30) 



( 



LAUS THURSDAY. 

" Lux ecce surgit aurea." 

See ! the golden dawn is glowing, 
While the paly shades are going, 
Which have led us far and long 
In a labyrinth of wrong. 

May it bring us peace serene ; 
May it cleanse, as it is clean ; 
Plain and clear our words be spoke, 
And our thoughts without a cloak ; 

So the day's account shall stand. 
Guileless tongue and holy hand. 
Steadfast eyes and unbeguiled, 
'' Flesh as of a little child." 

There is One who from above 
Watches how the still hours move 
Of our day of service done. 
From the dawn to setting sun. 
(31) 



32 



LAUS THURSDAY. 

To the Father, and the Son, 
And the Spirit, Three and One, 
As of old, and as in Heaven, 
Now and here be glory given. 



i 



PRINCE. 

"Jam lucis orto sidere." 

Now that the day-star glimmers 
bright, 

We suppliantly pray 
That He, the uncreated Light, 

May guide us on our way. 

No sinful word, nor deed of w^rong, 
Nor thoughts that idly rove ; 

But simple truth be on our tongue, 
And in our hearts be love. 

And, w^hile the hours in order flow, 
O Christ, securely fence 

Our gates, beleaguer'd by the foe — 
The gate of every sense. 

And grant that to Thine honor, 
Lord, 
Our daily toil may tend ; 
That we begin it at Thy word, 
And in Thy favor end. 
(33) 



VESPERS— SUNDAY. 

•' Lucis Creator optime." 

Father of Lights, by whom each 
day 
Is kindled out of night, 
Who, when the heavens were made, 
didst lay 
Their rudiments in light ; 
Thou, who didst bind and blend in 
one 
The glistening morn and evening 
pale, 
Hear Thou our plaint, when light 
is gone. 
And lawlessness and strife pre- 
vail. 

Hear, lest the whelming weight of 
crime 
Wreck us with life in view ; 

(34) 



P'ESPERS—SU.YDA V. ^ 5 

Lest thoughts and schemes of sense 
and time 
Earn us a sinner's due. 
So may we knock at Heaven's door, 
And strive the immortal prize to 
win, 
Continually and evermore 
Guarded without and pure within. 



COMPLINE. 

" Te lucis ante terminum." 

Now that the daylight dies away, 
By all Thy grace and love, 

Thee, Maker of the world, we pray 
To watch our bed above. 

Let dreams depart and phantoms 

fly, 

The offspring of the night. 
Keep us, like shrines, beneath Thine 
eye. 
Pure in our foe's despite. 

This grace on Thy redeem'd confer, 

Father, Co-equal Son, 
And Holy Ghost, the Comforter, 

Eternal Three in One. 
(36) 



! 



THE DREAM OF GERON- 

TIUS. 

GERONTIUS. 

Jesu, Maria — I am near to death, 
And Thou art calling me ; I know 
it now. 
Not by the token of this faltering 
breath, 
This chill at heart, this dampness 
on my brow, — 
(Jesu, have mercy ! Mary, pray for 
me !) 
'Tis this new feeling, never felt 
before 
(Be with me. Lord, in my extrem- 
ity !) 
That I am going, that I am no 
more. 
*Tis this strange innermost aban- 
donment, 
(Lover of souls ! great God ! I 
look to Thee), 

(37) 



38 



THE DREAM OF GERONTJUS. 



This emptying out of each con- 
stituent 
And natural force, by which I 
come to be. 
Pray for me, O my friends ; a vis- 
itant 
Is knocking his dire summons at 
my door. 
The like of whom, to scare me and 
to daunt. 
Has never, never come to me be- 
fore ; 
'Tis death, — O loving friends, your 

prayers ! — 'tis he ! . . . . 
As though my very being had given 
way, 
As though I was no more a sub- 
stance now. 
And could fall back on nought to 
be my stay, 
(Help, loving Lord ! Thou my 
sole Refuge, Thou), 
And turn no whither, but must 
needs decay 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 30 

And drop from out the universal 

frame 
Into that shapeless, scopeless, blank 

abyss, 
That utter nothingness, of which 

I came : 
This is it that has come to pass in 

me ; 
Oh, horror ! this it is, my dearest, 

this ; 
So pray for me, my friends, who have 

not strength to pray. 

Rouse thee, my fainting soul, and 
play the man ; 
And through such waning span 
Of life and thought as still has to 
be trod, 
Prepare to meet thy God. 
And while the storm of that bewil- 
derment 
Is for a season spent. 
And, ere afresh the ruin on me fall, 
Use well the interval. 



40 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 



ASSISTANTS. 

Be merciful, be gracious ; spare 

him, Lord ! 
Be merciful, be gracious ; Lord, 

deliver him ! 
From the sins that are past ; 

From Thy frown and Thine ire ; 
From the perils of dying ; 
From any complying 
With sin, or denying 
His God, or relying 
On self, at the last ; 
From the nethermost fire ; 
From all that is evil ; 
From power of the devil ; 
Thy servant deliver, 
For once and forever. 



By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross, 
Rescue him from endless loss ; 
By Thy death and burial. 
Save him from a final fall ; 



THE DREAM OF GERO.YTIUS. 45 

By Thy rising from the tomb, 
By Thy mounting up above, 
By the Spirit's gracious love. 

Save him in the day of doom. 



GERONTIUS. 

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, 

De profundis oro te, 
Miserere, Judex mens, 

Parce mihi, Domine. 
Firmly I believe and truly 

God is Three, and God is One ; 
And I next acknowledge duly 

Manhood taken by the Son. 
And I trust and hope most fully 

In that manhood crucified ; 
And each thought and deed unruly 

Do to death, as He has died. 
Simply to His grace and wholly 

Light and life and strength be- 
long. 
And I love, supremely, solely, 

Him the holy, Him the strong. 



42 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 

Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, 

De profundis oro te, 
Miserere, Judex meus, 

Parce mihi, Domine, 
And I hold in veneration, 

For the love of Him alone. 
Holy Church, as His creation, 

And her teachings, as His own. 
And I take with joy whatever 

Now besets me, pain or fear. 
And with a strong will I sever 

All the ties which bind me here. 
Adoration aye be given, 

With and through the angelic 
host. 
To the God of earth and heaven, 

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus, 

De profundis oro te. 
Miserere, Judex meus, 

Mortis in discrimine. 

I can no more ; for now it comes 
again, 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. ^^ 

That sense of ruin, which is worse 
than pain, 

That masterful negation and col- 
lapse 

Of all that makes me man ; as 
though I bent 
Over the dizzy brink 

Of some sheer infinite descent ; 

Or worse, as though 

Down, down forever I was falling 
through 

The solid framework of created 
things. 

And needs must sink and sink 
Into the vast abyss. And, crud- 
er still, 
A fierce and restless fright begins 
to fill 

The mansion of my soul. And, 
worse and worse, 
Some bodily form of ill 

Floats on the wind, with many a 
loathsome curse, 



44 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 

Tainting the hallow'd air, and 

laughs, and flaps 
Its hideous wings, 
And makes me wild with horror 

and dismay. 



ASSISTANTS. 

Rescue him, O Lord, in this his 

evil hour, 
As of old so many by Thy gracious 

power : — (Amen.) 
Enoch and Elias from the common 

doom ; (Amen.) 
Noe from the waters in a saving 

home ; (Amen.) 
Abraham from th' abounding guilt 

of Heathenesse ; (Amen.) 
Job from all his multiform and fell 

distress ; (Amen.) 
Isaac, when his father's knife was 

raised to slay ; (Amen.) 
Lot from burning Sodom on its 

judgment-day ; (Amen.) 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 4^ 

IMoses from the land of bondage and 

despair ; (Amen.) 
Daniel from the hungry lions in 

their lair ; (Amen.) 
And the Children Three amid the 

furnace-flame ; (Amen.) 
Chaste Susanna from the slander 

and the shame ; (Amen.) 
David from Goliath and the wrath 

of Saul ; (Amen.) 
And the two Apostles from their 

prison-thrall ; (Amen.) 
Thcclafrom her torments; (Amen:) 
— so to show Thy power, 
Rescue this Thy servant in his evil 

hour. 

GERONTIUS. 

Novissima hora est ; and I fain 

would sleep. 
The pain has wearied me Into 

Thy hands, 
O Lord, into Thy hands 



46 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 



THE PRIEST. 



■# 



Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de 
hoc mundo ! 

Go forth upon thy journey, Chris- 
tian soul ! 

Go from this world ! Go, in the 
Name of God 

The Omnipotent Father, who cre- 
ated thee ! 

Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, 
our Lord, 

Son of the living God, who bled for 
thee ! 

Go, in the Name of the Holy Spirit, 
who 

Hath been pour'd out on thee ! 
Go, in the name 

Of Angels and Archangels ; in the 
name 

Of Thrones and Dominations ; in 
the name 

Of Princedoms and of Powers ; and 
in the name 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 47 

Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go 

forth ! 
Go, in the name of Patriarchs and 

Prophets ; 
And of Apostles and Evangelists, 
Of Martyrs and Confessors ; in the 

name 
Of holy Monks and Hermits ; in 

the name 
Of holy Virgins ; and all Saints of 

God, 
Both men and women, go ! Go on 

thy course ; 
And may thy place to-day be found 

in peace, 
And may thy dwelling be the Holy 

Mount 
Of Sion : — through the Name of 

Christ, our Lord. 



ANGEL. 

O Lord, how wonderful in depth 
and height, 






48 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 

But most in man, how wonderful 
Thou art ! 

With what a love, what soft per- 
suasive might 
Victorious o'er the stubborn 
fleshly heart, 

Thy tale complete of saints Thou 
dost provide, 

To fill the throne which angels lost 
through pride ! 



He lay a grovelling babe upon the 

ground, 
Polluted in the blood of his first. 

sire, 
With his whole essence shatter'd 

and unsound, 
And coil'd around his heart a 

demon 
Which was not of his nature, but 

had skill 
To bind and form his op'ning mind 

to ill. 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. ^g 

Then was I sent from heaven to set 

aright 
The balance in his soul of truth 

and sin, 
And I have waged a long relentless 

fight, 
Resolved that death-environ'd 

spirit to win. 
Which from its fallen state, when 

all was lost, 
Had been repurchased at so dread 

a cost. 

Oh, what a shifting particolor'd 
scene 
Of hope and fear, of triumph and 
dismay. 

Of recklessness and penitence, has 
been 
The history of that dreary, life- 
long fray ! - 

And oh, the grace to nerve him and 
to lead, 

Ilowpatientj prompt, and lavish at 
his need ! 



^O THE DREAM OF GERGNTIUS. 

O man, strange composite of heav- 
en and earth ! 
Majest}^ dwarf 'd to baseness ! fra- 
grant flower 

Running to poisonous seed ! and 
seeming worth 
Cloaking corruption ! weakness 
mastering power ! 

Who never art so near to crime and 
shame, 

As when thou hast achieved some 
deed of name. 

.... Hark to those sounds ! 

They come of tender beings an- 
gelical, 

Least and most child-like of the 
sons of God. 

FIRST CHOIR OF ANGELICALS. 

Praise to the Holiest in the height, 
And in the depth be praise : 

In all His words most wonderful ; 
Most sure in all His ways ! 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. ^ I 

To US His elder race He gave 

To battle and to win, 
Without the chastisement of pain, 

Without the soil of sin. 

The younger son He will'd to be 

A marvel in His birth : 
Spirit and flesh his parents were ; 

His home was heaven and earth. 

The Eternal bless'd His child, and 
arm'd, 

And sent him hence afar, 
To serve as champion in the field 

Of elemental war. 

To be His Viceroy in the world 
Of matter, and of sense ; 

Upon the frontier, towards the foe, 
A resolute defence. 



SECOND CHOIR OF ANGELICALS. 

Praise to the Holiest in the height. 
And in the depth be praise : 



e2 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, 

In all His words most wonderful ; 
Most sure in all His ways ! 

Woe to thee, man ! for he was found 

A recreant in the fight ; 
And lost his heritage of heaven, 

And fellowship with light. 

Above him now the angry sky, 
Around the tempest's din ; 

Who once had Angels for his friends, 
Had but the brutes for kin. 

O man ! a savage kindred they ; 

To flee that monster brood 
He scaled the seaside cave, and 
clomb 

The giants of the wood. 

With now a fear, and now a hope, 
With aids which chance supplied, 

From youth to eld, from sire to son, 
He lived, and toil'd, and died. 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. c -? 

He dreed his penance age by age ; 

And step by step began 
Slowly to doff his savage garb, 

And be again a man. 

And quicken'd by the Almighty's 
breath 

And chasten'd by His rod, 
And taught by angel-visitings. 

At length he sought his God ; 

And learn'd to call upon His Name, 

And in His faith create 
A household and a father-land, 

A city and a state. 

Glory to Him who from the mire. 
In patient length of days. 

Elaborated into life 

A people to His praise ! 



THIRD CHOIR OF ANGELICALS. 

Praise to the Holiest in the height, 
And in the depth be praise : 



C4 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 

In all His words most wonderful ; 
Most sure in all His ways ! 

The Angels, as beseemingly 
To spirit-kind was given, 

At once were tried and perfected, 
And took their seats in heaven. 

For them no twilight or eclipse ; 

No growth and no decay ; 
'Twas hopeless, all-ingulfing night, 

Or beatific day. 

But to the younger race there rose 

A hope upon its fall ; 
And slowly, surely, gracefully. 

The morning dawn'd on all. 

And ages, opening out, divide 
The precious, and the base. 

And from the hard and sullen mass 
Mature the heirs of grace. 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 55 



ANGEL. 

We have gain'd the stairs 
Which rise towards the Presence- 
chamber ; there 
A band of mighty Angels keep the 

way 
On either side, and hymn the In- 
carnate God. 



ANGELS OF THE SACRED STAIR. 

Father, whose goodness none can 
know, but they 
Who see Thee face to face, 
By man hath come the infinite dis- 
play 
Of Thy victorious grace ; 
But fallen man — the creature of a 
day — 
Skills not that love to trace. 



56 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 



It needs to tell the triumph Thou 

hast wrought, 
An Angel's deathless fire, an Angel's 

reach of thought. 

It needs that very Angel, who with 
awe. 
Amid tbe garden shade, 
The great Creator in His sickness 
saw. 
Soothed by a creature's aid. 
And agonized, as victim of the Law 

Which He Himself had made ; 
For who can praise Him in His 

depth and height. 
But he who saw Him reel amid that 
solitary fight ? 

SOUL. 

Hark ! for the lintels of the pres- 
ence-gate 

Are vibrating and echoing back the 
strain. 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, r 7 



FOURTH CHOIR OF ANGELICALS. 

Praise to the Holiest in the height, 
And in the depth be praise ; 

In all His words most wonderful ; 
Most sure in all His ways ! 

The foe blasphemed the Holy Lord, 

As if He reckon'd ill, 
In that He placed His puppet man 

The frontier place to fill. 

For, even in his best estate. 
With amplest gifts endued, 

A sorry sentinel was he, 
A being of flesh and blood. 

As though a thing, who for his help 
Must needs possess a wife, 

Could cope with those proud rebel 
hosts 
Who had angelic life. 

And when, by blandishment of Eve, 
That earth-born Adam fell, 



^8 THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, 

He shriek'd in triumph, and he 
cried, 
" A sorry sentinel ; 

" The Maker by His word is bound, 

Escape or cure is none ; 
He must abandon to his doom. 

And slay His darling son." 

ANGEL. 

And now the threshold, as we trav- 
erse it, 

Utters aloud its glad responsive 
chant. 

FIFTH CHOIR OF ANGELICALS. 

Praise to the Holiest in the height. 
And in the depth be praise : 

In all His words most wonderful ; 
Most sure in all His ways ! 

O loving vv^isdom of our God ! 
When all was sin and shame, 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 59 

A second Adam to the fight 
And to the rescue came. 

O wisest love ! that flesh and blood 

Which did in Adam fail, 
Should strive afresh against their 
foe, 

Should strive and should prevail ; 

And that a higher gift than grace 
Should flesh and blood refine, 

God's Presence and His very Self, 
And Essence all-divine. 

O generous love I that He v^ho smote 

In m.an for man the foe, 
The double agon)^ in man 

For man should undergo ; 

And in the garden secretly, 
And on the cross on high, 

Should teach His brethren and 
inspire 
To suffer and to die. 



6o THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS. 



ANGEL. 



Thy judgment now is near, for we 

are come 
Into the veiled presence of our God. 



SOUL. 

I go before my Judge. Ah ! 



ANGEL. 

.... Praise to His Name ! 
The eager spirit has darted from 

my hold, 
And, with intemperate energy of 

love, 
Flies to the dear feet of Emmanuel ; 
But, ere it reach them, the keen 

sanctity, 
Which with its effluence, like a glory, 

clothes 
And circles round the Crucified, has 

seized, 



THE DREAM OF GERONTIUS, gi 

And scorch'd, and shrivel'd it ; and 

now it lies 
Passive and still before the awful 

Throne. 
O happy, suffering soul ! for it is 

safe, 
Consumed, yet quicken'd, by the 

glance of God. 








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